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SPEECH 

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HON. HENRY T. '^LOW, OF MO., 

IN REPLY TO THE CHARGES OF HON. F. P. BLAIR 
AND THE POSTMASTER GENERAL. 



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DELIVERED __ ■ -i?^ 

In the House of Representatives, Tuesday, Februawf 23, 1864. • 



\- 



Mr. BLOW said 



Mr. Chairman; — For over two months I liavc listened to the speeches 
and debates on this floor, and observed the course of e\:ents in this House, 
with an interest and anxiety that have absorbed every faculty of my mind. 
Witli many sad moments, because no reflecting man can fail to sec that 
we are trembling in the balance, I have nevertheless had that most 
soothing of all feelings to the public man of to-day, the consciousness 
that in the fearful ordeal through which our beloved country was passing, 
I was acting with its truest friends, and discharging important duties to 
the best of my humble ability. 

You will bear me witness, sir, that I have seldom intruded, even for a 
moment, on the attention of this honorable body, content that our more 
experienced members should lead in debate, and anxious that all measures 
actually necessary for the maintenance of tlie best interests of our Gov- 
ernment, its honor and character, should be adopted at the earliest mo- 
ment. I might have thus quietly continued my labors ; but we are the 
creatures of circumstances, and a single thought, one beautiful burst of 
eloquence from tlie gentleman from Maryland, induced me to change my 
mind. He spoke in defense of himself and that proud old State, now 
marching with rapid strides to the citadel of freedom. I crave your 
indulgence while I allude to matters originating in the West, intimately 
connected with this Government, affecting its present and its future, and 
entitled, in my estimation, to the brief consideration which I entreat you 
to bestow upon them. 

HOW THE DISCUSSION OF THESE MATTERS HAS BEEN PROVOKED. 

These matters have been brought up by two occurrences in this end 
of the Capitol. The first was the introduction of a resolution, which 
the Clerk will read. 

The Clerk read, as follows : 

"la the House of Representatives, United States, February 1, 1864, Mr. Blair, of Mis- 
souri, introduced the following resolution, on which he demanded the previous question : 

^'Resolved, That a special committee be appointed by the Speaker of the House, to con- 
sist of five members, with authority to inquire into and report upon the practical opera- 
tion and results of the act of Congress regulating commercial intercourse with the States 
declared to be in insurrection against the authority of the Government, and whether the 
regulations of the Treasury Department, which purport to have been made in pursuance 
of said act, as carried out by the Department, comply with its design. To examine par- 
ticularly and report upon the manner in which said act has been executed, and whether 
any frauds have been practiced on the Government by the officers or agents employed 
under said act, and whether any favoritism to individuals or localities has been shown in 



B^o^ 



its execution ; and to inquire further whether the effect of said act and of the said regu- 
lations of the Treasury Department has been to prevent supplies from reaching the 
rebels or to facilitate the object. That said committee have power to send for persons 
and papers, and to employ a clerk, with the usual amount of compensation, for the pur- 
pose of reducing to writing all testimony taken by said committee." 

Mr. BLOW. The second, a speech from the gentleman from Missouri 
against the confiscation resolution lately passed in this House, the only 
points in which now worth noticing, so far as Missouri is concerned, 
relate to the radical delegation in this House, and the radical party of 
the State of Missouri — the party tliat the gentleman himself had such an 
honorable part in creating, and which still holds in its ranks the men who 
contributed most to elevate him to the high position which he enjoyed in 
the past, and whose confidence Tvas given to him at a time when some of 
the leading conservative newspapers, which now print and praise him, 
Imd no words of contempt equal to their hatred and detestation of this 
anti-slavery leader. 

GENERAL BLAIR's SLANDERS ON HLS OLD FRIENDS. 

Yes, sir, the papers to which he so disparagingly alludes, and which he 
not long ago depended upon for support, are now held up to public scorn, 
and one, he says, was bought up by Fremont with public patronage. I 
have this much to say in relation to it as well as the Westliche Post, 
that the mere idea in St. Louis will be ridiculed. The fearless Democrat 
was never bought, or its columns sold, and although my colleague's friends 
abound in wealth, all of them together have not enough to purchase its 
principles. 

Here is what my colleague says of his ancient friends and supporters, 
the men who have never to this hour flinched in tlioir devotion to this 
Government, or been known to ask the aid of a gun or a traitor's vote, 
but standing on the highest ground that can be occupied by those purely 
and solely intent on saving this republic, place principles far above their 
love for or fear of any man, be his position ever so elevated, or his power 
above that of emperors and autocrats : 

"Of a piece with the ingenious, but rather disingenuous assault of the gentleman from 
Pennsylvania upon the President is an occurrence which took place in the other end of 
the Capitol some days since, and which 1 find recorded in the Daily Globe. A Senator 
from my own Slate [Mr. Brown] presented what purported to be a memorial from mem- 
bers of the Legislature of Missouri, and a protest of four Piepresentatives from that State, 
against the confirmation of General Schofield as a major general. I do not mention thia 
circumstance to comment on the extraordinary and most unbecoming declaration con- 
tained in that protest, in which these four members claim to be the only representatives 
of the Union men of Missouri, for there is nothing in the character or history of cither of 
them to warrant this arrogant assumption, but for the purpose of exposing a covert 
assault upon the President, under tkc pretext of defeating the confirmation of General 
Schofield. 

" If it had been the object to effect the latter purpose, this paper would have been pre- 
sented in executive session, where nominations are considered, and not in the open ses- 
sion of the Senate, as it purports to have been done, when no such matter can properly 
come before that body. The memorial and protest contained only matters which had 
been previously submitted to the President by a great committee of radicals which visited 
Washington for that purpose ; and these statements had been examined into by the Presi- 
dent, who, in his reply, jdaiuly declared that he did not believe them to be true. Yet 
the President is arraigned upon these same stale and discredited statements before the 
country upon the memorial of members of the Missouri Legislature and four members of 
this House, under the pretense of asking that General Schofield should not be confirmed, 
and that, too, after an agreement was had with the President that no opposition should 



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be made to Schofiekl's confirmation, but that he should be on his own request relieved 
from the command in Missouri. 

" The President, I presume, in his desire for peace among those Avho professed to be 
loj'al, was willing to make this concession ; but after accepting the concession, these 
parties flew from their agreement, under the dictation of bolder and more open enemies 
of the President and his Administration, who would not permit the opportunity for as- 
sailing him to pass. To show the spirit which animated this assault upon the President 
by his professed friends, I will read to the House a few brief extracts from the leading 
radical papers of Missouri. 

"The VVestliche Post, the most influential German paper in Missouri, says: 

" 'It is scarcely necessary to repeat — apart from this serious and general danger which 
the re-election of Lincoln threatens us — all his special sins ad nauseam. We have at present 
nothing to do but to declare herewith, once for all, that we, supported by honest convic- 
tion of all friends of freedom in our State, cannot support Mr. Lincoln's re-election under 
any circumstances whatever.' 

" The ilissourian, a radical paper printed at Springfield, snuffing the danger of Lincoln's 
nomination, says : 

" ' The earnest radicals of the Union will never be bound by the proceedings of any but 
a radical national convention, aud such convention will be called at an early day, in spite 
of all the obsolete P^epublican conventions that can be gathered together.' 

" The Missouri Democrat, a paper bought by Fremont with public patronage, and which 
went heartily into his scheme for a Western dictatorship, whines over the recent defeat 
of the radicals in Missouri, and says it was accomplished by three administrations com- 
bined — 'one at Washington, one at Richmond, and one at Jefferson City.' 

"It was the spirit which animates these extracts, and which broke out in fury when 
it was rumored in Missouri that all opposition to the confirmation of Schofield was to be 
withdrawn, and he relieved from the command at his request, that drove these gentle- 
men fi'om their agreement, and produced the extraordinary spectacle at the other end of 
the Capitol. 

"I should have had more respect for those engaged in it if the assault on the Presi- 
dent had beeu characterized by the same bold and open spirit as that which compelled it. 
I trust that the friends of Mr. Lincoln's Administration will hereafter be able to appre- 
ciate the assumptions of those who claim to be the only representatives of the Union 
men of Missouri, in derogation of the character of others who have sustained the policy 
of the Government from the beginning up to this hour." 

THE SPECTACLE PRESENTED IN THE ATTACK ON THE SECRETARY OF THE 

TREASURY. 

No"w, sir, before discussing tliis extract from the gentleman's speech, 
I intend to dispose of his resolution, as another occasion may never 
offer. I first desire to call attention to the extraordinary spectacle of 
a gentleman claiming to be a patriot, a soldier, and a statesman, after 
a futi4e attempt in Missouri to degrade one of the purest men in this 
country, and one of the liighcst officers in a Government which lie pro- 
fesses to love, dragging his malice after him in these Halls, and again 
endeavoring to cast a stain upon a record which is engraved in the 
hearts of a grateful people, and at the same time making slanderous 
charges against the friends of this Government and the friends of hu- 
man liberty. And worse than either, while thus prating about suspi- 
cions, not even dreamed of by those who have faithfully devoted them- 
selves to this Government from the commencement of the present session, 
he is found in the midst of his self-righteousness invoking the aid of and 
acting with the opposition members of this House. The men whom lie has 
abused for years he now takes to his bosom ; and with them he is at 
times arrayed against almost every acknowledged supporter of this Gov- 
ernment. Every member of this House understands the injustice which 
can be practiced and the unkind influence which would be used by mj 
colleague against the Secretary of the Treasury, were he placed at the 
head of a committee of investigation. Not that any friend of the Ad- 



• 4 

ministration is opposed to the investigation ; not at all ; let it be as fulJ 
as our most ardent enemy could de.^ire, but let it also be fair ; and this 
can easily be aflfectcd by referring the matter to an appropriate com- 
mittee. 

THE HUMBLEST MAN THAT SERVES THIS COt'XTRY IS E!NTITLED TO THE 
DEFENSE OF EVERY TRUE PATBIOT. 

But I can fancy the feelings of my colleague just at this moment. IIo 
is congratulating himself that he has succeeded, and that I am entering 
upon the defense of a presidential aspirant. But the gentleman is 
greatly mistaken. The humblest man that serves this country in this, 
its hour of peril, is entitled to the friendsliip of every true patriot. I 
have never yet, thank God, failed to defend sucii a man. It is for 
the unselfisli laborer, the faithful officer who presides over the vast 
machinery that almost runs this Government, that my feelile voice is 
raised, and I do not envy that man, be he high or low, who can find it 
in his heart to be unjust or ungenerous, especially in times like these, 
toward those upon wliom a people confidently relies for the nation's 
honor and tlie nation's salvation. 

THE ORIGIN OP THE CLAMOR ABOUT TRADE RESTRICTIONS. 

The abuse of Mr. Chase, originating with my colleague and his co- 
laborers, kept up incessantly in his St. Louis organ, and wrongfully 
attributed in many instances to the merchants of St. Louis, is based 
throughout the country upon wrongs charged by my colleague and his 
politico-trading friends to have been committed by the Se<;rctary in re- 
stricting the trade of the Mississippi valley. 

To show the gross injustice already done, as is thought for political 
effect, and the greater mischief intended. I will, as briefly and rapidly 
as possible, allude to matters in connection with these trade regulations. 
With a familiarity growing out of constant examinations into the reg- 
ulations, earnest conversations with the President and the Secretaries, 
and a most ardent desire to assist in relieving the trade of the Missis- 
sippi valley, I have looked forward to relief whenever those high inter- 
ests of our Government, tending to its success in suppressing tlie rebellion 
and maintaining a just consideration for its loyal people, would allow. 

THE NECESSITY OF THE REGULATIONS. 

At the outbreak of the rebellion the regulation of trade or prevention 
of supplies to the insurgents was necessarily left with the military 
authorities, aided, when practicable, by the revenue officers and special 
agents of the Treasury Department. 

A law of Congress, approved July L3, 1861, authorized the President 
to declare by proclamation States and parts of States where unlawful 
combinations existed, ttc, in insurrection, and thereafter all coramer- 
cial intercourse between inhabitants of such States and parts of States 
and citizens of the rest of the United States was proliibited, ericept as it 
might be licensed l)y the President to be carried on only in pursuance of 
rules and regulations prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury. 

August 16, ] 861, the President proclaimed certain States and parts of 
States in insurrection. Collectors and surveyors of customs at point& 
having trade with insurrectionary districts were instructed, and a spo- 



cial agency of the Treasury Department was created, to supervise trade 
and prevent supplies to insurgents. 

May 20, 1862, additional powers were conferred on the Secretary of 
the Treasury in relation to this matter by a supplementary act of Con- 
grese. Special instructions prescribing rules and regulations were, from 
time to time, issued to proper officers and agents, as transactions arose 
requiring them, until August 28, 1862, when a code of regulations was 
issued. Cases of hardship on one side, and of illegal trade on the 
other, not provided for, were constantly arising, and a code of regula- 
tions embracing new premises was provided and published March 31, 
1863- 

On the 11th September, 1863, a more full and complete code of reg- 
ulations, with all the laws and proclamations on the subject, witli the 
orders of tlie War and Navy Departments approving them, and with the 
license of the President and his approvals and proclamations, were pub- 
lished, under which commercial intercourse is now carried on. 

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE ? 

This information is within the reach of every intelligent man in the 
country. It can be seen from the contents, almost at a glance, that tlie 
responsibility rests on the President, and the Secretaries of the Treas- 
ury, War, and Navy ; and the statesman or general who undertakes to 
saddle it all upon any one of these officials, is willfully ignorant or will- 
fully unjust. Yet notwithstanding all of this, the acknowledged organ 
of my colleague has for months abounded in the vilest misrepresenta- 
tions and abuse of the Secretary on account of his (as they assert) 
restrictions on trade, and since my colleague's last effort opens its bat- 
teries with an increased disregard of the trutli, a recent editorial that 
has been brought to my attention being an improvement on others in 
point of decency, I propose to read it. It is from the St. Louis Daily 
Union, of the 5th Inst : 

*'A Bomb-Shell in the Chase Camt. — General Blair's resolution of inquiry into the 
unnameable and inconceivable abominations of the trade regulations, has fallen like a 
live mortar-shell in the camp of Mr. Chase's friends. One would presume that they 
would be glad of an iavestigation, and of the opportunity it offered of vindicating their 
' monarch-minded ' chief from the grave suspicions which the notorious villainies con- 
ducted under these trade regulations have brought upon him. But not so. The virtu- 
ous friends of the Secretai'y desire anything but an investigation. They never dreamed' 
»f such a thing. They can bear any amount of suspicion, any amount of accusation* 
any amount of the gravest charges; but an investigation they pray to be delivered from." 

This but feebly portrays the bitterness of the hired demagogues who 
daily utter their slanders through the columns of a paper owned, as is 
claimed, by an association of forty gentlemen. Let me state a few sim- 
ple facts. 

THE SECRETARY HAS ALWAYS FAVORED THE MOST LIBERAL REGULATIOXS. 

Trade was prohibited by Congress, and not by the Secretary of the 
Treasury. He has always favored the most liberal trade compatible with 
prevention of supplies to the rebels ; he believed that as we suppressed 
the insurrection and restored the authority of the Government over 
territory, that trade should be restored to its usual channels as nearly 
as practicable. At an eaidy day he adopted the motto, " kt commerce 



follow the flag." I ask that this letter to the special agent containing 
this motto may be read, and beg you to observe tliat it is dated as early 
as May, 1861, and is a key to the entire action of the Iionorable Secretary. 
The Clerk read, as follows : 

Treasuky Department. May 29, 1861. 

My Dear Mr. Mellen : I am much obliged to you for yours of the 25th instant. 
The topics which you mention have been subjects of much and somewhat painful reflec- 
tion with me. I have little doubt that the exchange of provisions and supplies, except 
munitions of war, and other articles usually prohibited, would be more useful than in- 
jurious. The difficult}', however, is this. The States controlled by insurrectionists, es- 
l)ectally by insurrectionists exercising the powers of government, can hardly be regarded 
otherwise tlian as hostile communities with which the United States arc, for the time 
being, at actual war. The rules applicable to the relations of war must be applied. If 
war existed between this country and England, no trade whatever would be permitted. 
American property shipped to England, and English property shipped to the United States, 
■would be liable to seizure. So constant experience teaches us that property shipped to the 
insurrectionary States is Ijable to seizure, and actually' seized; and if the property of 
citizens in those States, shipped to the United States, is not seized, it is simply because 
the Federal Government desires to treat them, as far as practicable, not as enemies, but 
as citizens. 1 see no M-ay in which safe intercourse can be established between citizens 
of the loyal States, and those under insurrectionary control. The question is not one 
of revenue, nor one of rights in a state of peace, but a question of supplies to enemies, 
and is controlled by considerations belonging to a state of war. 

The best thing to be done, it seems to me, is to establish the power of the Government, 
in co-operation with the people of Kentucky and Western Virginia, within those limits, 
and to let commtrce follow the flag. This policy opens Missouri, Kentucky, and West- 
ern Virginia to trade, and will extend southward as rapidly and as far as the authority 
of the Federal Government can be restored. 

Continue your conversations with reflecting men, and let me know the result. 

Yours, &c., 

S. P. CHASE, 

Secretary of the Trcamry. ' ■ 
W. P. Mellen, Esq., Special Agent, Cincinnati^ Ohio. 

Mr. BLOW. The regulations from time to time prescribed, demon- 
strate his purpose to conform to this motto. Each successive code was 
more liberal in its provisions, and conceded more to the wants of the 
people, than the one preceding it. 

I do not believe that Secretary Chase has ever been over-confident 
that any great public good was being accomplished by the licenses of the 
President and the action of the Secretaries; but the law imposed the 
duty of prescribing regulations, and he had no alternative but to dis- 
charge ofllcial obligation, and he aimed to do it intelligently and with 
fidelity. Commercial intercourse was absolutely prohibited, except as 
licensed by the President, and regulated by the Secretary, and to his 
labors, and exertions, and regulations, sanctioned by the JPresident and 
by other Departments of the Government, insurrectionary districts, and 
my colleague's complaining friends, who have coined millions, with their 
murmurs and slanders, are indebted for whatever privilege of trade, 
and even tlie supply of the necessaries of living, they enjoy in the States 
south of Cairo. We all know — history prove.=^ it — that the prevention 
of unlawful traffic in time of war by civil agency, is very difficult, if not 
impracticable. The military power is the primary agency in subduing 
this rebellion, and whenever a military force is present, military orders 
are necessarily paramount. 

Men with guus in their hands, inspire a respect and fear greater than 
can be inspired bj men with civil commissions in their pockets. I ana 



confident there has been no time wlien tlie Secretary of the Treasur}^ has 
not desired to be relieved from all supervision over this trade, and ex- 
perience has satisfied him, as well as others, that with military aid and 
co-operation alone, can these regulations be made more effectual than 
any other governmental move, in accomplishing the objects desired. 

NO POLITICAL FAVORITISM ! 

.,If the intention of my colleague in his resolution was to expose 
malversation on the part of the Secretary, candor requires that he 
should have made a speciti.c charge in bis resolution. For if be ever 
brings any charge of political favoritism, or asserts that the Secre- 
tary has perverted the power of patronage to his own political advan- 
tage or any other personal object, I feel certain that these charges 
will be shown to be false and absolutely baseless. It is known that 
Secretary Chase has appointed to offices in connection with this 
bureau, as important as any, those not regarded as of his own politi- 
cal school, and it is safe to venture the assertion, and to challenge 
the proof to the contrary, that in all appointments made in connec- 
tion with this business, no regard has been had to the personal pref- 
erences of any, no questions been asked, no conditions imposed, 
expressed or implied, and no ettbrt whatever, anywhere exerted, 
either in appointments or permits, to advance the political fortunes 
of the Secretary. I understand that no permits for trade of any 
character, either to sell merchandise or buy products, have been 
given by the Secretary directly, and I believe it. All traffic and 
transportation in insurrectionary States has been under regulations 
by which certain officers, at convenient localities, were authorized to 
grant permits, and all transportation prohibited except as permitted 
by those officers. 

THE PRESIDENT FINDS FAVOR WITH MR. BLAIR, BUT THE LATTER DON'T 

LIKE THE JACOBINS. 

The regulations are general and impartial in their provisions, and 
it is not known by the President or Secretary, or believed b}' either, 
that there has been any corruption or unfaithfulness in their exe- 
cution by the agents emploj'ed. And I assert that they are as well 
devised as any regulations can be for controlling commercial transac- 
tions and preventing contraband trade by civil administration amid 
public discords in time of war. But my colleague perhaps has never 
read, certainly never studied, the laws and regulations which he has so 
constantly denounced, little feeling at the time that every denunci- 
ation of these regulations, because solely attributed by him and his 
trading friends to the Secretary of the Treasury, was also a denunci- 
ation of the President of the 'United States, who carefully examined 
and approved every one of them. It is the President, equally with 
his cabinet officers of the Treasury and War Departments and de- 
partment commanders and generals of the divisions, that are bound 
to come under the investigating committee. I respectfully submit 
to my colleague that he should at the earliest moment pass them all 
over to the committee on the conduct of the war if justice to his 



country, and not persecution of one whom he has ah'eady attempted 
to wrong, is the impelling motive. Why, Mr. Chairman, even while 
I am discussing this question the regulations relieving trade in the 
valley in certain articles are suspended at the request of the War De- 
partment, except when the usual authority from the Treasury agent 
is approved hy a commanding general. Telegrams and letters have 
come to me every few days for two wrecks complaining of certain 
supplies being again prohibited ; and though trade Avas entirely re- 
lieved in the States of Missouri and Kentuck}' before my colleague's 
resolution was laid over the last time he called it up, j-et his com- 
plaints are so chronic that I am afraid he will not finish grumbling 
until we have an unrestricted free trade to San Francisco by the gold 
mines, over a rail not made by English neutrals, but wrought from 
the ores of free Missouri by radical free-soil men, and laid down by 
a set of Jacobins whose very names bring up visions of defeat and 
disaster to that gentleman. 

LACET, ABLE & Co'S TESTIMONY IN TAVOR OF THE REGULATIONS. 

T have alluded to ray colleag-ue's friends in connection with these 
trade difficulties. Justice requires that I shou)d state that many of 
them since he first commenced his assault, always unexplained ex- 
cept upon the ground that it was purely political, having made for- 
tunes, and monstrous fortunes, during the rebellion, in trade, traffic, 
and speculations, mostly in connection with the Government, they 
evince a disposition to be just, I am willing to believe, from a 
conviction that they were hasty and ungenerous. The most promi- 
nent and wealthiest of these firms, whose St. Louis partner. Captain 
Barton Able, has been distinguished for his intense devotion to every 
act of my colleague, and foremost in expressing, in every possible 
way, his gratitude and admiration, concede that the trade regulations 
for 1863, and now existing, should be satisfactory to every honest 
dealer. 

I will record this evidence, because it is a candid admission, and 
alike creditable to them and the Government: 

Washington City^ February 10, 1864. 

Dear Smr Yonrs of yesterilay, on the subject of tlie existing trade regulations on the 
Mississippi river, received. In reply we would respectfully slnte that while the mer- 
chants and business men of Memphis regard some of the legulatlons as burdensome and 
unnecessary, they are generally satisfied with them. We think with some few modifica- 
tions they could be made all that any community situated as ours is ought to ask for, and 
without the alterations we are fully satisSed that frnj honest man in our community 
ought to be able to transact business under them with prolit to himself and the Govern- 
ment. We have been able to do so. We paid to the Government, iu the items of taxes 
and duties for the privilege of transacting our business for the year 18C3, over one hun- 
dred thousand dollars, and would have paid cheerfully more, but ttie restrictions on trade 
during part of the year curtailed our business to some extent. Yet we neyeff compluined, 
believing the authorities imposing the restraints did so for the public good, whkk omghi 
to he eonsidered paramount in all eases by all good citizens. 

Hoping the continued loyalty of the citizens of the city of Memphis may induce those 
in authority to place our city on an equality with other loyal communities, and that 
our trade may be only taxed as the business and commerce of all the loyal cities of the 
United States, we are, very respectfully, your friends, 

LACEY, ABLE & CO. 

Hon. H. T. Blow, House of Reprcientaiiveu 



GENERAL GRANT S TESTIMONY IN REGARD TO TRADE IN TENNESSEE. — HE 
AGREES WITH SECRETARY CHASE. 

But there is still higher testimony. It comes from a man whose 
praise is on every tongue, and the mere mention of whose name 
always arrests the attention of this House — I mean Major General 
U. S. Grant. I will read an extract from his letter, July 21, 1863. 
Mr. Secretary Chase very much desired to modify the trade regula- 
tions upon the fall of Vicksburg. He indicated this to General 
Grant, and in his reply these views are expressed. I know that on 
a previous occasion these views have been very adroitly used against 
the President and the Secretary of the Treasury ; but no straight- 
forward man can fail to see in them the same idea that, if adopted 
early by Congress, would have absolutely prohibited all trade. 

Headquaktees Department of the Tenn., ") 
Vicksburg, Miss., July 21, 1863. / 
Honorable S. P. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury : 

SiH — Your letter of the 4tli instant to me, inclosing copy of letter of same date to Mr. 
Mell6n, Special Agent of the Treasury, is just received. My Assistant Adjutant General, 
by whom I shall send this letter, is aljout starting for Washington ; hence I shall be very 
short in ray reply. 

My experience in West Tennessee has convinced me that any trade ivhaiever with the rebel- 
lious States is lueakening to tis of at least thirty-three per cent, of our force. No matter what 
the restrictions thrown around trade, if any whatever is allowed, it will be made the 
means of suppljnng cp the enemy what they want. Restrictions, if lived up to, make 
trade unprofitable, and hence none but dishonest men go into it. I will venture that no 
honest man has made money in West Tennessee in the last year, whilst many fortunes have been 
made there during the time. 

The people in the Mississippi valley are now nearly subjugated. Keep trade out for a 
few months, and I doubt not but that the work of subjugation will be so complete, that 
trade can be opened freely with the States of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississip])i — that the 
people of these States will be more anxious for the enforcement and protection of our laws 
tljan the people of the loyal States. They have experienced the misfortune of being 
■without them, and are now in a most happy condition to appreciate their blessings. 

No theory of my own will ever stand in tlie way of my executing in good faith, any order 
I may receive from those in authority over me; but my position has given an opportunity 
of seeing what would not be known by persons away fi-om the scene of war, and 1 venture, 
therefore to suggest great caution in opening trade with rebels. 

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

U. S. GRANT, Major General. 

MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNMENT ASSAILED FOR POLITICAL PURPOSES. 

CABINET QUARRELS. 

And here I leave this branch of my subject with the name and fame 
of our highest officials. I commend them to that honor and sense of 
justice which has thus far distinguished the loyal population of this 
land ; but not without saying that in my humble opinion it is the duty 
of every sincere lover of this Government to stand up firmly against 
any attempt, come from whatever source it may, to weaken and em- 
barrass this Government by maliciously assailing those chaged with 
its highest interests. We who so regularly witness their untiring 
labors can bear testimony to the fearful responsibility which rests 
upon the heads of the Departments and the devotion which marks 
their daily duties. I am proud to announce that, whatever differ- 
ences of opinion others acting with me in this House may have in 
regard to any one of the honorable gentlemen mentioned for the 



10 

Presidency, and when publicly urged in this Hall and elsewhere — 
urged, as I fear, to the disadvantage of our common cause — I will 
always be found sustaining to the best of my judgment and the fullest 
extent of my power the honest overburdened public servant who 
makes his country and not himself the constant object of his thoughts 
and actions. 

I do not greatly fear, Mr. Chairman, that my colleague's semi- 
political effort will make a breach among those who must by this 
time understand his peculiar fashion of deciding for the people be- 
fore they speak for themselves, and in a very different way from that 
foretold by this prophet. 

Twenty million freemen are watching with eager eyes the events 
which are daily transpiring in this land, confidingly relying upon the 
wisdom and patriotism of the President, his Cabinet, our faithful 
armies, and the Representatives of their choice. Shall it be said of 
us, or of those above us, that in such a moment we turned from an 
imperiled country, from a people willing to assume increased bur- 
dens, a people preparing to respond to the heaviest taxes, a people 
who have consecrated to this Government and their devotion to human 
liberty the bravest sons of the nation ? I say, sir, shall it be recorded 
of us that at such a time our thoughts were directed to a contest for 
coming political spoils, and under the demoralizing influence of such 
an unworthy prompting we were willing to imperil if not sacrifice 
our beloved country ? Let members have their preferences, let them 
labor as they choose outside these Halls, but here let us frown down 
every move that is calculated to separate the firm friends of the Gov- 
ernment, or those intrusted with these weighty responsibilities. Cab- 
inet quarrels should not enter the two Houses. Now more than ever 
in the history of the nation we need unity. Now more than ever, 
with a burning desire for action, should men prepare to make good 
their oft-repeated declarations in favor of human liberty, and devote 
themselves to its immediate accomplishment. The power or weak- 
ness that stands in the way of this glorious achievement will be ac- 
cursed of God and man. 

THE SCHOFIELD NOMINATION. MR. BLAIR'S ATTACK ON THE RADICAL DEL- 
EGATION AND HIS RADICAL COLLEAGUES. 

But I am trespassing upon the patience of the House. Bear 
with me while I pass directly to the gentleman's attack upon the radi- 
cals of Missouri, and the radical delegation in this House. My col- 
leagues deny that they ever made or thought of the compromise 
alluded to, and the House will think it strange for the gentleman to 
have thus asserted that which bears upon its face the want of truth. 
President Lincoln did doubtless confer with our Senators in regard 
to General Schofield's confirmation, as the subject was to come before 
them. But if the gentleman who gravely makes these unfouoded 
charges had appeared more promptly in his place, instead of lingorin^cj 
on his way from camp, he would have been better informed in regard 
to his colleagues. His allusion to the radical delegation, consisting 
of some seventy gentlemen from all parts of Missouri, is in very 



11 

bad taste and unkind to the President, and his assertion in regard 
to the President's answer addressed to the chairman of tliat dele- 
gation, though not really replying to that chairman's appeal to the 
President, will be pronounced untrue by every candid man who will 
examine both documents. I desire to speak decidedly for myself, and 
indignantly repel the charge of bad faith or arrogant assumption or 
covert assault which my colleague prefers. He is becoming mad, sir. 
We have had some discussion before ; it was unavoidable on my part. 
Old feelings and friendships and the practice of my lifetime have pre- 
vented me in these discussions from unkind, ill-natured, or unjust 
personal allusions. He never spared me, but my only retaliation 
has been when he spoke or wrote slanderously of me to make the 
facts as clear as midday to all who choose to listen or read. This I 
^iU do with these his last charges. 

:: .f ' PERSONAL NARRATIVE — WHAT THE RADICALS DID ASK FOR. 

I have referred to the fact of the gentleman's delay ; I will therefore 
relate certain events which transpired before his arrival. "When I 
first reached the capital, I found the public mind greatly excited in 
regard to Missouri affairs ; our own friends w^ere becoming deeply 
interested, and the sj-mpathy for the cause of freedom in Missouri, 
now the cause of this Union, had produced an intense feeling against 
the President. This feeling manifested itself everywhere, but espe- 
cially in a meeting of national men, best known to the President 
himself; not his enemies, but his friends, and representing the pa- 
triotism and intelligence of twenty States. I can appeal to this noble 
body of men for the manner and matter of my addresses before them 
in regard to the unhappy ditferences in Missouri between the radicals 
and the President. Shortly after, I was invited to address the Union 
League of this city on the Missouri question. I confidently assert 
that every liberal man — a^^, the President himself, if he has finished 
the Rockville speech and can glance over mine — will testify that it 
is at least fair toward him, and was dictated by elevated, not low, 
promptings. I went further; I did talk with the President (not that 
I intruded on him) with regard to Missouri matters, but called by a 
written invitation to the White House, on business, in an interview, 
when he was not pressed by others, I did plead with him for justice to 
Missouri. I related to him facts which I believe were never known 
to him before. I protested against General Schofield, because he had 
failed to obey his (the President's) instructions; had committed out- 
rages on Union men ; had suft'ered wrongs to be perpetrated and go 
unpunished at which a rebel would blush, and which disgraced him 
and clouded the justice of my Government ; and thus protesting, from 
the noblest impulses of the human heart, if the President had ex- 
pected me to compromise with such a man, I would have then and 
there resented the foul outrage upon hospitality and character, and 
turned with loathing from a mansion which should hold within its 
walls the type of a great nation's dignity and honor. 

Mr. Chairman, my colleague has grossly misrepresented the Pres- 
ident, so far as I am concerned. He had no praise, no defense for 



i 



12 

General Scliofield, in replying to my heartfelt denunciations of this 
official, who had so deeply wronged the loyal men of Missouri. But 
the country is entitled to a full statement of everything pertaining 
to Missouri, and my colleague sliall have the pleasure of hearing it. 
I went heyond the Schofield matter, which after all is notliing. in. 
comparison with the glorious theme of Missouri's freedom. I hrought 
up the matter of emancipation in Missouri. I told the President 
how, after all our labors, we had failed to accomplish the object of 
years of toil, and that the so-called ordinance of emancipation, car- 
ried through with the aid and approval of my colleague's conservative 
friends, in fact emancipated nobody, and was a hypocritical cheat, if 
uot an outrage. I prayed him for the sake of human liberty, for the 
sake of this Union, because it was just to the enslaved whom we had 
been so long deluding, to cast his influence on the side of those who 
were nobly striving in our Legislature to call a new convention, a 
convention, as we believed, that would express the real views of 
our people, and pass an honest ordinance of emancipation. One 
line from him, saying that he desired it, and that magic key, trans- 
mitted with lightning speed, would have unlocked the resisting hearts 
and made Missouri free. The coming spring would have been bright 
with the hopes of our future, and the ripening crops of summer 
would have been tilled and gathered in earnest by men, white and 
black, who would have closed each day of toil with heartfelt thanks 
to God that the air they breathed was that of a noble State washed 
of its only stain. Hundreds of thousands of emigrants, with their 
families, who have watched with interest the struggle \xe have made, 
would have cast their lot with us, and Missouri, the battle-ground 
of a nation's emancipation from a foul and damning sin, would have 
become the bright morning star, the harbinger of a more glorious 
Christianity and civilization. 

THE BLAIRS — ARE WE OR THEY THE REAl FRIENDS 01 THE GOVERNMENT 
AND THE LOYAL PEOPLE OF THE COUNTRY ? 

.The President would not write those magic words, and yet our 
condition is not hopeless. The convention bill, though not passed 
for an immediate call, has nevertheless become a law, and notwith- 
standing the blighting influence of conservatism in our State, will be 
held next November. Meanwhile Arkansas, Louisiana, Maryland, 
and Tennessee are praying and working for the immediate abolish- 
ment of slavery. Oh ! sir, this is no time for hesitation, no time to 
be idle. We claim to be in earnest; let us see to it that we do not 
deceive ourselves. This year will decide our faith, our fidelity, our 
destiny ; all depend upon the honest public sentiment and united 
exertions of our people. But I ask your indulgence while I refer for 
a moment to my colleague's position. On this vital question he has 
taken his stand with the conservatives, and has made a speech which 
is adapted to his new-found friends in Missouri, while he plants him- 
self here on what I believe he calls the President's platform. 

Another member of the gentleman's family has defined the Presi- 
dent's policy. I hope I may be pardoned for contrasting our position 



on some leading; points with my colleague. "We contend for imme- 
diate emancipation without injustice to loyal slaveowners ; he is con- 
tent with the ordinance already passed, if I understand his position 
at this moment : if w^'ong in this, I would be most happy if he will 
correct me. The gentleman from IMissouri early adopted the Jeffer- 
sonian idea in regard to emancipation and deportation. At first it 
was somewhere near the equator; then distinctly Central America; 
once I know his eyes were directed to"the tangles and swamps of 
Chiricpti ; now, with the honorable Senator from Kansas, [Mr. Lane,] 
he has iixed upon the broad and sunny plains of Texas, and it must 
be said to his credit that this last proposition is the best he ever made, 
and hr.H some humanity in it. We have no such theories, have indulged 
no such unkindness to the unfortunate blacks. "We are content to let 
them remain where God in His providence placed them, and with a 
more^ elevated sense of justice to ameliorate their condition at once, 
and elevate them as speedllv as possible on the soil that has been 
enriched by the sweat of their brows through years of unrequited toil 
and crushed and bleeding hearts. Hence we are deeply interested in 
the bureau proposed by the emancipation committee, and in ihe bill 
enianating from the committee on the rebellious States- 

We hnve opposed General Schofield's management of the depart- 
ment of the Missouri, for reasons repeatedly and clearly stated to the 
public. He indorses the General now, though he and his friends, in 
August, 18G2, appointed me chairman of a committee authorized to 
present the shortcomings of General Schofield to the President and 
beg for iiis removal, and on that presentation and prayer he was re- 
moved and General Curtis appointed in his place. Subsequently, on 
slanders never made good against General Curtis, and from the pres- 
sure of Attorne}'- General Bates, the President had to yield, and 
removed General Curtis, against whom to this hour not one single 
charge has ever been sustained, and singularly, as every fact will 
show, restored Schofield, and now asks his confirmation from the 
Senate. 

Mr. BLAIR, of Missouri. Does the gentleman assert that I con- 
demned General Schofield at that meeting, or that I authorized the 
gentleman to represent that fact to the President ? 

Mr. BLOW. I assert positively that the gentleman from Missouri 
made the motion which sent me here as the chairman of a commit- 
tee to ask the President of the United States to remove General 
Schofield. 

Mr. BLAIR, of Missouri. The gentleman is entirely mistaken. 
I defended General Schofield there, and ofl:ered no such resolution 
as the gentleman has spoken of. 

Mr. BIjOW. It so happened that when I returned to St. Louis 
and made a report of the proceedings of the committee to a meeting 
of the gentleman's friends, every one of those gentlemen accepted 
the report which I made, upon, the basis I have mentioned, and a 
resolution was passed in that meeting, that everything which had 
transpired should be kept and considered a profound secret. 



14 

But, sir, I leave the question of truthfulness and veracity between 
the gentleman and myself to his own friends. l^Tone of them will 
ever deny that there was such a meeting, that I was called there by 
invitation, and that I was authorized to come here, and that in that 
same meeting Isaac H. Sturgeon and F. A. Dick were appointed to 
come with me for this purpose. I brought those resolutions here 
and submitted them to the President. These are the simple facts of 
the case. 

Mr. BLAIR, of Missouri. All I liave to say is to deny, as em- 
phatically as the gentleman states it, that I ever authorized him to 
represent me, or that I oifered any such resolution. As a matter of 
fact I state that at that meeting I defended General Schofield. • 

Mr. BLOW. God save me from such friends as the gentleman 
upon that occasion. 

Mr. BLAIR, of Missouri. And God save me from such a pre- 
tended friend who would misrepresent facts in such an assemblage 
as this. 

PARTY RELATIONS — THE SPEAKERSHIP. 

Mr. BLOW. Our hope and confidence rest on the justice of that 
honorable body. My colleague was opposed to constitutional confis- 
cation as inexpedient. We were not. He sometimes caters to the 
Opposition as already stated. AYe have not thus far departed from 
our faith in the Administration party in this House. We were here 
to vote for an unconditional Union man for Speaker ; it was gen- 
erally understood that the gentleman's sympathies were not so de- 
cided, nor did his organ fail in abuse of the gentleman we selected. 
We can excuse him for the ambition he indulged, but not for the 
bad taste of those attacks. Our sympathies and identifications are 
altogether with a difierent class at home. AYe cherish the strongest 
Union element, have no semi-Union friends or supporters, and have 
drawn, on our clear, distinct enunciation of principles, almost every 
soldier in the army to our standard. We abhor indecision, scorn 
those who have grown rich from never-ending contracts, and despise 
those men in every part of the land who, living on the Government, 
are unceasing in their insidious attacks'on its highest and best offi- 
cials. 

THE POSTMASTER GENERAL AND THE ABOLITIONISTS. 

We claim to be in full sympathy with the acknowledged friends 
of the Government, while its greatest enemies have never coined into 
lano-uage a greater, insult to the loyal people of this land than ia 
conUxined in this extract from the Rockville speech of Hon. Mont- 
gomery Blair, Postmaster General : 

" The abolition party, while pronouncing philippics against slavery, seek to make a 
easte of another color by amalgamating the black element with the free white labor of 
our land, and so to expand far beyond the present confines of slavery the evil which 
makes it obnoxious to republican statesmen. And now, when the strength of the 
traitors who attempted to embody a power out of the interests of slavery to overthrow 
the Government is seen to fail, they would make the manumission of the slaves the means 
of infusing their blood into our whole system by blending with it 'amalgamation, 
equality, and fraternity.' 



16 

state of afiairs, and maj' be suddenly awakened from tlieir delasion. 
The only safety is in the action *of our people ; the effort must be 
herculean, the struggle short, the result soon attained. Once start 
with this feeling, and the national pulse will recover its tone, thd 
love of gain and ease which has demoralized the public sentiment 
will yield to the spirit Avhich actuated our fathers, and the gamb- 
lers in gold so graphically described b}' the gentleman from Iowa 
will give way to the honest men engaged in legitimate trade. The 
immense importations now temporarily aiding our Government, but 
foreshadowing an impending crisis, will cease, for our statesmen will 
become wnse, increased duties will check imports, and the protection 
to home manufactures thus given will fill the country with thrifty 
men, and pour actual capital into every spot where development is 
to be rewarded. Do not treat this assertion lightly. Our imports 
into 'New York since the 1st of January have been $7,000,000 more 
than in the same time laet year, which at the present premium on 
exchange and gold will require full $11,000,000. In the same time 
our exports of produce have fallen oif over $8,000,000, making a 
difference against us in eight weeks of $19,000,000 of gold, and this 
difference must be added to the constantly increasing one of the last 
six months. The signs of extravagance all around us indicate a crash. 
The error must be checked ; economy in the Government and in the 
people must be enforced by wise legislation, or this crash will soon be 
upon us. 

There was printed in London and Paris recently a pamphlet writ- 
ten by a citizen of the South, entitled, Emancipation, the Duty, Pol- 
icy, and Strength of the South. These pamphlets, as I am well 
assured, were sent in large numbers to liichmond, and the party 
acknowledging their receipt in the rebel capital for President Davis 
writes in reply to the suggestion of arming and emancipating the 
slaves, that they are not ready for it yet, though every day is bring- 
ing them nearer to the inevitable conclusion. It will not do to agi- 
tate the subject ; the pamphlets sent for circulation favoring emanci- 
pation were retained, biding a little time for circulation. This comes 
from a reliable source, and the pause which now prevails may be 
broken by the announcement that the South, to gain her independ- 
ence, surrenders her pride and her corner-stone, and rests on a basis 
which is indestructible. 

Mr. Chairman, this country has the largest Army the modern 
world has ever seen ; the finest Navy that floats ; a people so gener- 
ous that we vote millions where our statesmen formerly hesitated to 
spend thousands ; and all this comes from our single purpose to have 
a free and united Government. Such a Government we must have. 
It is our only hope. Are we to be faithful to the people ? Are they 
prepared to be faithful to themselves ? If so, the errors of the ]3ast 
must be blotted out, and then, and then only, will our country be 
prepared for triumph in the cause of human freedom. 

My prayer is that we may h^ve the courage and ability to act so 
justly that the Supreme ruler of the Universe will not abandon us. 

McGiLL & WiTHBEOW, Printers, 366 E street, Wasliington, D. C. 




15 



013 701 779 9 



"Tlie cullivators of the soil must then become a hybrid race, and our Government a 
hybrid Government, ending, as all such unnatural combinations have ever done, in de- 
graded, if not abortive generations, and in making serfdom for the inferior caste — the 
unmixed blood of the conquering race inevitably asserting a despotism over it." 

We are almost a nation of abolitionists. This side of the House 
is supposed to be entirely abolition; the Arm}'- of the United States 
is abolitionized, and if you were to come out to-morrow in a declar- 
ation against abolition, you would not have in a month a corporal's 
guard to fight the battles of the countr}-. Ay, more, sir; arrest this 
love of liberty and determination on the part of the people to make 
every foot of American soil free, and you lose the only hope of the 
oppressed nations of the world. Tliis Republio will cease to exist. 
A nation of hypocrites can never find favor in the sight of a just 
God; and I can tell the Postmaster General that if this great rel)el- 
lion is crushed and the Federal authority asserted throughout the 
land, it will be ettected by an abolition party and an abolition arrr-y ; 
and when effected, the black race will be protected and sustained by 
this same class, and prepared for that freedom which is now withheld 
from them by outrage, violence, and wrong. 

THE HEROES OF THE IllREPRBSSIBLE CONFLICT. 

There is another plain truth which might as well be recorded. 
The strongest supporters of this Government, from one end of the 
land to the other, utterly repudiate the policy defined in this Kock- 
ville speech. The people, who have urged the President forward, 
still demand that he and we shall deal promptly, humanely, and 
justly with the freedmen of the Union that we are pledged to pro- 
tect and advance; that the President himself shall lead in every move 
for their moral and political elevation, sa that they can enjoy at once 
those privileges which the civilized world expect from our profes- 
sions and obligations. No excuse or explanation will now be taken 
for delay, inactivity, or indecision. The cries, criticisms, and argu- 
ments of tlie Postmaster General I hope will be ejected from the Ex- 
ecutive Mansion, nor be allowed by any inattention of the President 
to tarnish the heroes of the " irrepressible conflict." This I hope for 
as much as I do that we will never suffer any one, though he may as- 
sume, as my colleague has, to speak the sentiments of the President 
in regard to his repudiation of the lo3^al radicals of Missouri, to de- 
ceive and divide our part}', or divert us from the accomplishment of 
those Lhorongh measures now actual!}' necessary to save us from the 
charge >. insincerity that may soon be preferred. 

TIIB DEMAND OF THE HOUR. 

God reigns, and this nation should tremble lest His displeasure 
rest upon it. To-day is the time for action ; in a week or a month 
it may be too late ; and if the instice so long withheld causes lliai 
tf. "Hhdraw His smiles, then indeed are we lost. There is an un- 
healthy and fictitious state of affairs in the land ; our people fieel pros- 
'j^ierous ; some are not only prosperous but suddenly rich. The 
masses seem dependent entirely on the continuance of this unreal 




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